October 31, 2012

Farmhouse Kitchen Reveal (with details!)

My kitchen is complete, just in time for fall baking! The tile guy finished up the backsplash yesterday and I couldn't wait to make some pumpkin bars.

We wanted to go with the farmhouse look, without looking too country. One of the most important design elements on my list was a window over the kitchen sink. It was on the list even before we knew it would be overlooking a pond. There's just something soulful-happy about a big kitchen window.

The only request my husband had for the design was simple: two dishwashers. Who can argue with that?? Yes, we keep them busy!

I love, love, love the divided farmhouse sink. It's deep but not so deep that it hurts my back to wash dishes.

The black and white maintains the streamlined farmhouse style. Our countertops are honed (not shiny) granite. We had the same countertops in our last house and I never got tired of them. Originally, I wanted the look of Carrera Marble, but we couldn't find a local granite that had only white/grey (without browns) so we played it safe and stayed with black. No regrets. ;)

The other priority on our design plan was a large island that could seat several people.

We eat many meals here. I love having the cooktop in the island. The kids sit at the bar and chat with me while I cook. So many good memories already!

I found the pendant lights in the Ikea catalog and prayed they would be in stock. Two over the island and one over the kitchen sink give plenty of task lighting. They also make me very happy.

The other end of the island holds our microwave and keeps the cookbooks within reach.

The kitchen and keeping room are very open to each other, so we kept the paint color the same in these two rooms.

I'm so happy for you guys. What a sweet Thanksgiving/Christmas season it will be in your new Farmhouse!

(p.s. in our first house our guest room was called "The Martha Stewart Suite"...the walls were painted the palest light green, we painted the ceiling SW Front Porch blue, the furniture was white, and white sheers hung on the double window...it was our favorite room! That's a great blue)

Do you still like your honed abosloute black counter tops? I love the look of your kitchen! I heard honed AB shows many etches and finger prints. I had polished before and it always looked dusty and covered in fingerprints 5 minutes after I cleaned it. Any kind of advice on the counters would be greatly appreciated!